Concord Law School Merges with Kaplan University

For record, here is the news.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071030/20071030005763.html?.v=1&printer=1

Press Release Source: Concord Law School

Concord Law School Merges with Kaplan University
Tuesday October 30, 8:30 am ET
Merger Creates First Online Law School within a Regionally Accredited Institution


DAVENPORT, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kaplan Higher Education today announced the merger of Concord Law School, the first wholly online law school in the United States, and Kaplan University, a leading provider of online higher education. In addition to expanded course offerings, qualified Concord students will now have access to Title IV student loans for the first time.
“Concord Law School has been a pioneer in the world of online legal education. The Law School’s merger with Kaplan University will enhance the level of service and program offerings for students, and opportunities for collaboration between the two institutions,” said Andrew S. Rosen, CEO of Kaplan Higher Education and CEO and President of Kaplan University. “Since we launched Concord in 1998, Concord has been challenging the conventional wisdom about legal education. This merger is a natural step in its development and we’re excited about the possibilities it brings.”

Both Concord Law School and Kaplan University are owned by Kaplan Higher Education Corporation, the largest business unit of global education provider Kaplan Inc. Concord Law School is now Concord Law School of Kaplan University, making it the first online law school to be part of a regionally accredited institution.

The merger opens up opportunities for the two institutions to develop joint programs and provides Concord students with expanded course offerings through the University, including graduate courses in business, health sciences and education. Concord students will also have access to the University’s library resources. Concord’s administrative operations are already integrated with those of Kaplan University.

“Having regional accreditation is a logical and important step for Concord’s evolution,” said Barry Currier, Dean of Concord Law School. “The programmatic possibilities presented by the merger are compelling, but also significant is the fact that our students who qualify can now use federal loan programs to finance their Concord education. Part of Concord’s mission is to provide access to legal education to those who cannot feasibly attend a traditional law school. One component of access is affordability.”

Concord’s Juris Doctor program satisfies the legal education requirement for eligibility to sit for the California Bar Exam. Although Concord now shares Kaplan University’s regional accreditation, at present, Concord graduates may not be eligible to sit for the Bar Exam in states other than California.

Concord Law School, which will remain based in Los Angeles, was founded in 1998 and today has 1,500 students across the country. Since Concord’s first graduating class in November 2002, more than 600 students have completed the School’s Juris Doctor (JD) and Executive Juris Doctor (EJD) programs . More than 40 percent of its students have graduate degrees upon entering the program. Many pursue a JD to advance their current careers and others plan to start a new or second career with their legal education. The school’s EJD program also provides a legal education for individuals who want a professional law degree but who do not plan to sit for the bar examination to become practicing lawyers.

In addition to now being part of a regionally accredited University, Concord is also accredited by the Distance Education Training Council (www.detc.org). Concord is registered as a distance learning law school with the California Committee of Bar Examiners (www.calbar.ca.gov). It is also a member of the International Association of Law Schools (www.ilsnet.org) and is an institutional member of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (www.chea.org). For more information on Concord, visit http://info.concordlawschool.edu.

Kaplan University, based in Davenport, Iowa, is regionally accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). The University’s online programs have grown from 34 students in 2001 to more than 27,000 students today, placing it among the largest universities in the United States. The University also has 4,000 on-ground students studying on its eight campuses in Iowa and Nebraska.

The University offers master’s, bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in more than 100 programs and has online student support centers in South Florida, Chicago and Phoenix. Kaplan University’s market-driven curriculum is designed to prepare students to pursue careers in fields such as business, criminal justice, IT, nursing, legal and education. Many of its students are working adults who appreciate the flexibility of the online platform which allows them to juggle work, family and other responsibilities while attending classes online. For more information about Kaplan University, click on www.kaplanuniversitynews.com.

About Kaplan Higher Education

Kaplan Higher Education serves more than 75,000 students through 70 campus-based schools across the U.S. and additional schools in Europe, Asia and Australia. It also has online programs through Kaplan Virtual Education, Kaplan University and Concord Law School. Kaplan Higher Education schools offer a spectrum of academic opportunities, from high school diplomas to graduate and professional degrees, including a Juris Doctor degree. Kaplan Higher Education is part of Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO - News). For more information, visit www.kaplan.com.

 

Info Re Online Law Schools

[(note from moderator I have removed this post because it was shilling for the California School of Law.]

The poster attempted to point to a Wikipedia article that has clearly been vandalized by someone at this school because it is not a neutral and objective article.

Furthermore, the Baby Bar results cited (which conveniently put California School of Law at the top of the list) do not match the actual 2008 results posted by the California Bar Association, which did not list this school at all.

Degreeinfo does not appreciate nor condone schools shilling for their own programs, particularly when doing so under the guise of being a student at said school.

 

Thanks!
Thanks!

xxxoooxxxooo

 

Let the shilling begin (or recommence, as Chip has already removed your spam from this board more than once).

 

From the post above:

From their website:

Actual numbers from July 2009 FYLEX:

2 first-time takers, both passed. So ... 100% pass rate!

 

Obviously the numbers are kind of small at this point. However, it's possible that the [/i][shilling school's name removed][/i] may in fact prove to have unusually high First Year Law Students Exam (or "baby bar") pass rates.

This is because [/i][shilling school's name removed][/i] apparently has its own screening exam for the FYLSE, which they call the "Baby Bar Certification Exam" or BBCE. They won't certify their students for the FYLSE until they have passed the in-house BBCE. A student who fails the BBCE three times is dismissed.

So the BBCE serves as a screening mechanism for the FYLSE, just as the FYLSE serves as a screening mechanism for the Bar Exam. I don't think that other distance law schools do this, although I could be wrong.

So it wouldn't surprise me if [/i][shilling school's name removed][/i] does have unusually high FYLSE pass rates in the future, and it wouldn't surprise me if they use this as a marketing point. But in this case, high FYLSE high pass rates may not necessarily reflect the qualify of the legal education; they may in fact reflect high flunk rates on the BBCE.

The bar pass rates of distance schools are not really comparable to those of B&M schools, because this comparison ignores the fact that most distance students never even reach the bar. Similarly, the FYLSE pass rates of CSL may not be comparable to those of other distance schools, because it's likely that many or most CSL students never even reach the FYLSE.

 

And the CLS is a bit pricey too, 30 grand for 4 years, geesh..!

 

I dont know if $30,000 is a lot for 4 years of law school. Of course, I'm looking for the cheapest option for a Masters Degree myself.

As for the spam type posting, not a fan but the school seems so so. Needs work on the website. Straight forward and all [shilling school's name removed] and I like the class at certain times deal but 4 years of that wouldn't work with my job.

I saw on the Concord wiki's site that a graduate sued in Massachusetts to be admitted sit for the Bar and won. Good for them, I think if they are allowed to sit for the bar in CA, why not other states? Provided there is some sort of accreditation process. I think an online degree is a very interesting, rewarding and needed education option. I just wish it was more accepted nationally. They need to actively pursue that...over and over and over.

I'm not attracted to it more because of that reason...because I dont know what they are doing, not because they aren't. Make sense?

 

Reply to CALDOG

CALDOG omits crucial facts from his criticisms of the [/i][shilling school's name removed][/i]

First, regarding his statistics, he fails to mention that the Wikipedia website article which is biased as hell and was clearly written by the school in question - mod and the School's website give the "whole truth" about the June '09 baby bar passage rates for the school. There were four students from the school who took the baby bar, who had taken the school's recommended but not mandated review course; all four passed. Further, counting a transfer student who had been at the school for more than a trimester, three out of three first time takers passed the exam. And, overall, four out of six students from the school passed. In contrast, 14% of the Concord students taking the October '08 baby bar were successful.

CALDOG's criticisms of the school's BBCE exam also misses the point. This exam is designed to protect the students not ready for the exam from undertaking the time, the fees and the travel expense of taking the baby bar when they are not ready for it. Perhaps more importantly, CALDOG fails to report that the students failing the BBCE can attend the school tuition free until the next baby bar. And he leaves out the fact that the [shilling school's name removed] has a four week tuition free pre-admission course at which, before being formally admitted, all students must show that they have the commitment and scholastic ability to pass the baby bar and ultimately the bar exam. About 20 % of the prospective students do not complete this course.

Me Thinks CALDOG is disingenuous. Does he wish he had gone to [shilling school's name removed] rather than Concord?

Moderator's note: Methinks that cslstudent1 is disingenuous, because s/he is blatantly shilling for his/her program, has already been banned once, and registered again so s/he could shill some more. It would be really nice if s/he would just take the hint and go away.

 

Regardless of whether or not graduates of the Concord School of Law should be able to practice in other states besides CA, I think that it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their degree will meet state requirements before they enroll in it.

 

Hmm. Is it the "whole truth" to compare the results for two different FYLSE administrations -- October 2008 for Concord vs. June 2009 for CLS?

In fact, the full June 2009 results have not yet been posted by Calbar, so they really can't be used as a basis for comparing schools. The most recent available results are for October 2008. According to Calbar, the October 2008 results included the following:

Oak Brook: 18 total takers, 11 passed, 61.1 % pass rate
West Coast: 7 total takers, 2 passed, 28.6 % pass rate
CLS: 9 total takers, 2 passed, 22.2 % pass rate
Northwestern: 58 total takers, 12 passed, 20.7 % pass rate
Concord: 196 total takers, 28 passed, 14.3 % pass rate
Abraham Lincoln: 79 total takers, 9 passed, 10.1 % pass rate

The whole truth is that [shilling school's name removed] seems to have respectable FYLSE pass rates by unaccredited law school standards, but this is based on a rather small number of students.

I am not necessarily criticising the BBCE concept. I am pointing out that it is different, and that it may affect FYLSE pass results. The intent of the BBCE is apparently to "weed out" weak students before the FYLSE, while at other schools the weak students are "weeded out" afterwards. The weak students get weeded out either way, but by doing it via the BBCE exam, [shilling school's name removed] may be able to keep its FYSLE exam pass rates relatively high. If this strategy works, then it wouldn't surprise me if other unaccredited law schools introduce similar policies.

There was no sinister motive for omitting this information. It was left out simply because there was no mention of it whatsoever at the [shilling school's name removed] "admissions standards" or "admissions procedures" web pages. I have been unable to find any references to it using the search function on the [shilling school's name removed] web pages either.

If [shilling school's name removed] has selective admissions criteria, and rejects applicants that are unlikely to succeed, then I commend them. But wouldn't it be easier and less expensive for everyone to simply test applicants for legal aptitude using the LSAT, the way that the ABA law schools do? The LSAT is obviously a hassle, but a four-week pre-admission course seems like a hassle too.

Nope, not me. I am not a lawyer, and have no desire to ever attend law school of any kind.